“Rising ocean temperatures could have pushed the world’s tropical coral reefs over a tipping point where they are hit by bleaching on a “near-annual” basis, according to the head of a US government agency program that monitors the globe’s coral reefs…
“The real concern is with this much bleaching without tropical forcing,” Dr Mark Eakin, coordinator of Coral Reef Watch at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. “This may be a sign we’ve now tipped over to near-annual bleaching in many locations.”
“Water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are running more than three degrees above average…
“…increasing the prospects for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes this spring and potentially stronger hurricane activity in the summer and fall.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/03/31/gulf-of-mexico-warm-tornadoes-hurricanes/
“Researchers at UC Santa Barbara and the Nature Conservancy have compiled a new dataset of damage caused by wildfires in California in areas protected by the state of California…
“The report illustrates how the recent set of severe fires fits into a broader trend of increasing burn area and damage over the past 40 years.”
https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/03/31/data-shows-the-worsening-trend-of-california-wildfires/
“Even without completing the month, the National Meteorological Service [of Argentina] has no doubts in affirming that this March will go down in history as the hottest March nationwide since records are available
“…that is, since 1961… the average temperature at the country level presents an anomaly of 2.8 °C “
“An unusually dry end to the summer season across parts of South America is expected to impact the harvests of important crops in the region.
“”Rainfall averaged below normal across much of southern Brazil, including [the states of] Rio Grande Do Sul, Santa Catarina, for the month of March, and in many instances the entire summer season,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls.”
“New South Wales, the Australian state most severely hit by last summer’s wildfires, yesterday marked the official close to its worst bush fire season, which razed over 6 per cent of the state’s land area and killed 25 people.
“The country’s devastating fire season, which lasted from September until torrential rains hit in February, killed 33 people and a billion native animals nationally.”
“Heavy downpour that lasted hours on Monday evening has caused floods that inundated at least 9,285 houses in six districts of Bandung regency, West Java [Indonesia]…
“…forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes and causing at least one fatality.”
From drought to inundation:
“Some good news!! The floodwaters of the Zambezi have hit Victoria Falls and Kariba – the river has risen quickly and the lake is starting to fill. This is the biggest flood since 1977/78, which is the biggest flood since records started in the sixties.
“However, there is now a second wave coming through Chavuma (on the Angola/Zambia border) which looks as big as the first wave.”
“In the last 36 hours, the province of Castellón [Spain] has registered intense and persistent rains, which have left accumulated ephemeris and numerous floods…
“Over the last 24 hours, the AEMET observatory in the Castellón capital has registered 150 l / m2 (rainfall day), it is the largest accumulated on a day outside of an autumn month.”
https://www.tiempo.com/noticias/actualidad/inundaciones-en-castellon-lluvias-oropesa.html
“Rising temperatures may be having a profound physical impact on one of the world’s favourite songbirds.
“Researchers in Spain found that over a 20-year period, nightingales had evolved smaller wingspans. The scientists say this is linked to a changing climate in the region which has seen the early onset of spring and increased drought.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52111309
“Months of flooding is turning Lugg meadows [UK] anoxic as oxygen is lost.
“Worms and other insects suffocate and come to the surface where they are picked off by scavengers… reducing the larder of food for rarer species that rely on the reserve in spring. Many delicate grass species… are likely to be weakened by the floods, leaving a flush of resistant weed species such as thuggish dock leaves and thistles to take their place.”
“Tropical rainforests are emptying out due to the ongoing extinction of animal species caused by overhunting and forest fragmentation.
“But not only species as such, also the number of individuals of species living in rainforests continue to decline. Large-bodied species, which are particularly vulnerable to changes, decline at a comparably faster rate than other species.”
https://phys.org/news/2020-03-defaunation-rainforests-severe-consequences.html
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